John 8:1-11
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Turn to John 8. Our text this morning will be a very popular text. It is the story of Jesus bending down and writing in the dirt when these Pharisees and Scribes bring a woman before Him who had been caught in the act of adultery.
We have all heard this story…its a very popular one. But I want you to notice that little part above Chapter 8.
It says, “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11”.
Well that is pretty interesting isn’t it? Now, if you know me…you could imagine the rabbit hole that put me on. It killed two days this week. I’m just kidding but seriously, two days.
So, I thought it would be best if I could find something that could explain it to you in a concise way instead of me trying to explain it to you for 45 minutes…which I probably couldn’t do well anyway.
I printed off a couple pages from JC Ryle for you guys to take with you and read over if you want to understand that a little more.
But I will say this regarding the statement above Chapter 8.
Look at the sheet that I handed out and if you look at [B]
you see that “it IS found in many old manuscripts, if not the oldest and best”.
ON the BACK SIDE of the handout…you will see a line by Ryle that says “I leave the subject”...
It says, “I leave the subject here. In case of doubt like this, it is wise to be on the safe side. On the whole I think it safest to regard this disputed passage as genuine. At any rate I prefer the difficulties on this side to those on the other.”
His point is if someone doesn’t not think that this should be in Scripture then it would be best to leave them with the burden of proof… and that would be a very hard task.
Again, it doesn’t say that none of our manuscripts have this section but that the earliest that we have do not include it.
Now, lets read God’s Word...
They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Prayer:
Look at verse 53 and 8:1 here:
They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Remember the last few weeks as we went through Chapter 7:37-52. We see the difference between Jesus and the Religious Pharisees.
But its not just those “religious Pharisees”…Jesus is nothing like us either.
After they didn’t get him arrested… “they went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.” He slept in the open air…just east of the temple Mount.
They had a house to go to but:
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Look at verse 2:
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Obviously when it says “all the people came to him...” it doesn’t mean ‘every person in the world came to him’. It is saying that a large crowd, a multitude of people came to him to hear him teach.
Remember chapter 7 and everything that went on at the Feast of Booths. It was just yesterday on the last day of the Feast that Christ said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
It was just yesterday that there was a division among the people. They were all divided on who he truly was.
And it was just yesterday that the Pharisees were angry with the officers who were told to arrest him but weren’t able to.
And look what they did this day...
Verse 3-5
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
Imagine, the Feast of Booths, it ended yesterday and there were still a lot of people in and around Jerusalem. People everywhere. Remember it was their biggest Feast.
But, do you think that these Pharisees and Scribes set this whole thing up? Some think that…I mean, who really knows.
We know they were continually trying to get Jesus on something.
Did you know that one of the reasons some do not think that this section of Scripture is authentic and from John is because it mentions the “Scribes” here.
this is the only time the Gospel of John mentions “scribes” in his Gospel.
Here is how I see it. The Pharisees are wanting Jesus arrested and just yesterday, Nicodemus pointed out how they don’t even know the Scriptures (John 7:51-52).
I can see them leaving but plotting together on how to trap Jesus. They thought they could get the “Scribes”, the “EXPERTS” in Jewish Law…who was “learned in the Law”. MAYBE THEY CAN HELP US GET HIM…So, the next morning…they both came, the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes wanted to see what Jesus would say and how he would respond to their Legal Trap
There is a couple of horrible things going on here if you look at these few verses:
You have a woman caught in adultery.
CAUGHT…in the act of adultery. It is a sin of absolute weakness and she is caught in the act of it.
The other horrible thing, which is worse than adultery, is the pure hatred of Jesus Christ these Pharisees and Scribes have toward Him.
These religious leaders could care less about this woman. Look what they did with her…in verse 3
they put her right in front of Christ and all of the people who were there listening to Him teach and say, so everyone can hear, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery...”. IMAGINE THE SCENE.
Imagine how this woman must have felt.
Scared
Embarrassed
Ashamed
humiliated
They could care less that this woman was caught in the act of adultery…they cared more about getting rid of Jesus!
Look at verse 5-6 again:
Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
As if He didn’t KNOW what the Scriptures said about this...
He was sitting, teaching the crowd (verse 2)...
These religious leaders come up to Him with this woman…throw her in the middle of Him and the crowd listening to Him teach and ask this… “So what do you say?”
He didn’t take the bait
He didn’t waste his time with these Pharisees who were just trying to “trap” him to discredit Him
Man, I wish I was more like Christ.
I would have failed this test with the BIGGEST ‘F’ you’d ever seen. Just being honest.
I pray I can be more like Him
Here is what I would have done…to make things worst (ignorantly by the way)…and I know it would not have been the right thing to do because Jesus didn’t do what Im about to tell you what I would have done. I know that to be true because what God does is perfect and what He did here was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT…and He didn’t do what I would have done.
I would have not just bent down and started writing in the dirt…I would have stood up…bowed up and said, “did you just ask me what I thought about this? Did you just say that the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman…and what do I say?”
I would say go read the Law again!
It says in Leviticus 20:10
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
So where is the man? I see you brought this woman but where is the man if you caught them in the act? Did you just let him go? Was he a friend or something?
It says in Deuteronomy 22:22
“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
You’re asking me? You have no idea what you are talking about…again, where is the man since you caught them?
Yep…thats what I would have done if Im honest. I would have botched the whole thing!
What did Christ do?
What does He do…He bends down…He shows them no attention really.
Im sure most would be intimidated by these religious leaders as so many people are today…but not Christ.
He just slowly bends down and “wrote with his finger on the ground”.
the question everyone wants to know is “WHAT DID HE WRITE IN THE DIRT”...
For one…whatever he wrote I don’t think that the Pharisees and scribes could see it because they do not acknowledge anything about what he “wrote”…or communicated by writing on the ground.
I think he wrote something for her to see…this woman caught in her sin, embarrassed, and humiliated.
I think He wrote, “Watch this!”
But whatever he wrote he must have stayed there for a little bit just writing…or writing something slowly because they keep asking Him what He thinks they should do...
Look at verse 7-8
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
Jesus, The Word of God, knows The Word of God...
The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
See they wanted Jesus to judge her…
They wanted Jesus to show all the people that he wasn’t as merciful and gracious as He comes across...
They wanted the people to see that Jesus wasn’t as loving to sinners as He wants people to think He is...
They, like so many today, seem to forget that Jesus didn’t come to judge…he came to divide…but not judge...
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
AND WHY IS IT THAT HE DIDN’T COME TO JUDGE? ITS IN THE NEXT VERSE HERE John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Let’s look again at verse 7-8
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
He was sitting, then He knelt down, and NOW HE STANDS UP and says this…then He kneels back down and wrote on the ground.
At first, i thought, what if he was writing down
a woman’s name that one of them committed adultery with...
or just writing down some of their sins that no one knew about
What if that is what He is writing and that’s why they left because they didn’t want to be humiliated like they just humiliated this woman...
BUT THEN I READ VERSE 9...
But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
They didn’t run away from Christ because He was writing their sins on the ground…They LEFT Christ because, The WORD OF GOD STOOD UP AND SPOKE....
AND WHEN THEY HEARD IT....THEY WENT AWAY!
And think about the people who were there hearing Him teach.
A woman caught in Adultery, a horrible sin
Pharisees and Scribes challenge Jesus...
They hold the Law over this woman’s head saying that she deserves death
Christ Stands in the way of her, the wretched sinner and her accusers…and they run away.
They are watching all of this unfold...
Look at verse 10-11
Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
This is the first time anyone in this whole story speaks to this adulterous woman...
The Pharisees do not speak to this wretched sinner
The Scribes do not speak to this sinner
The crowd doesn’t say anything to her
BUT CHRIST SPEAKS TO HER...
He doesn’t make her defend herself
He doesn’t ask if what she has been accused of is true or not
He just asked her, “where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
She says, “No one, Lord.”
And Christ says to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more”.
Christ doesn’t condone her sin…he recognizes her sin but tells her to “go and sin no more”
CLOSING:
Sometimes we are the accusers aren’t we. We have all been guilty of seeing someones sin and instead of wanting them to be shown grace and mercy we want them to get justice!
I have been guilty many times of this and I need forgiveness
Sometimes we are the one caught in sin and what we want more than anything for ourselves is grace and mercy instead of Justice
That is all of us in our sin.
But how can God be a God of Justice when it seems that He will just forgive us and give us grace all the time?
How can God be a God of Justice and tell this woman that He doesn’t condemn her and to go and sin no more...
How can He tell you and me, sinners, that we are not condemned but free if God is a God of Justice?
Let me tell you if you have never heard and let me remind you if you already know...
These Religious Leaders thought they could stand in the court of Heaven and prove their innocence to God by their good deeds and their religious works.
But none of us can do that. And when faced with THE WORD, they knew it too.
It is only through faith in Christ who died for, this woman’s sin in John 8 and for all who believe in Him.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
If you have come face to face with your sin, like this woman in John 8…and you know that you deserve justice because you have sinned against a Holy and Eternal God....if you feel the pain, the humiliation, and guilt of your sin…if you hear the accuser condemning you in your sin and trying to convince you that your sin is too great to be forgiven.
Do what she did this morning…Look to Christ as you hear His Word this morning…call Him Lord and he will say to you just what he said to her…as you hear the accusers all around you Look ONLY AT CHRIST and you won’t see your accusers anymore...
“where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
Look to Christ…as He says...
“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more”
